Category: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kelly Finnigan Shares Strutting “Be Your Own Shelter”

Perhaps best known as the frontman of the acclaimed West Coast psych soul outfit and JOVM mainstays Monophonics, Kelly Finnigan is an acclaimed producer, keyboardist and solo artist in his own right. 

Finnigan’s highly-anticipated sophomore studio album A Lover Was Born is slated for an October 18, 2024 release through Colemine Records. Distance as a measure of time and place reportedly informs the album with a grit and grace that turns passion into virtue. The album also sees the Monophonics frontman rooting himself — and in turn, his work — in the best traditions of midwest soul labels like King, Curtom, Dakar and the Boddie Recording Company. And as a result, A Lover Was Born is a testimony that those deep cut grooves aren’t resigned to nostalgia, but rather, they are at the burning heart of longing and hope. 

The journey that Finnigan takes listeners on through Lover‘s 11 tracks echo the state of motion and growth since his solo debut, 2019’s The Tales People Tell. Both solo albums bookend a prolific period of output that includes two Monophonics albums, 2020’s It’s Only Us and 2022’s Sage Motel; a Christmas album, 2020’s A Joyful Sound; a mixtape, last year’s From Me To You; and production work for other artists including The Ironsides, Alana Royale, The Sextones and others. “There’s nothing like making records,” says Finnigan. “It feels like that’s my purpose — the reason I was put on this earth.” 

Written in California, Ohio and Staten Island, Finnigan collaborated with old friends in and outside the studio. “I enjoy working alone but it’s not how you want to make a record…almost everybody I brought in for this album I’ve worked with, toured with or spent a great deal of time with. The album features contributions from The Ironsides’ Max and Joe Ramey, Parlor Greens‘ Jimmy James, Orgōne’s Sergio Rios, Dap Kings‘ Joey Crispiano and Jay “J-Zone” Mumford. 

Last month, I wrote about “Love (Your Pain Goes Deep),” a song anchored around a hard-hitting, strutting groove that sounds as though it could have been written and recorded between 1966-1970, paired with twinkling Rhodes, a supple bass line, shimmering funk guitar, bursts of cinematic strings and a lush horn line. The song’s deliberately crafted arrangement serves as a satiny bed for Finnigan’s pleading and effortlessly soulful delivery. At its core, you can feel the yearning, hurt and longing of the song’s narrator in very lived-in terms. 

A Lover Was Born‘s latest single “Be Your Own Shelter,” features a strutting and stomping piano-driven groove reminiscent of early Staxx Records, early Motown and Northern Soul and a soulful backing chorus paired with Finnigan’s imitable delivery. Continuing a remarkable run of effortless yet crafted soul, “Be Your Own Shelter” is anchored around a necessary message, that when the shit inevitably hits the fan, that you will need to be your own shelter.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Homer Teams Up with Kirby on Lush, Quiet Storm-like “Rollin'”

Acclaimed New York-born and-based drummer, songwriter and producer Homer Steinweiss has a storied career that started in earnest when he was just a teenager. He has been instrumental in helping bring the raw-but-receptive soul sound back into the mainstream through his work with Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley. Steinwess has also been behind the kit for nearly every contemporary soul outfit that has mattered. 

The New York-born and-based musician is now one of the most in demand drummers in the world, playing with the likes of Clairo, Solange, Adele, Silk Sonic and Bruno Mars, among a lengthy list of others. And much like his longtime bandmate Dave Guy, Steinweiss is stepping into the spotlight as a both a musician and producer with Ensatina, his first solo album released under the moniker Homer. 

Slated for a November 15, 2024 release through Big Crown Records, Ensatina is reflection of who Steinweiss is now and a testament of how struggle often brings about much-needed changes. He was dealing with considerable emotional turbulence; at the same time that his band Holy Hive broke up, a long-personal relationship fell apart, putting him in an uncertain place mentally. The fallout was significant enough for him to seek professional help. “I was going through these super manic highs and then very depressive lows,” Steinweiss explains. “And being in all that, it’s just so tough to imagine that the other side is there, that it’ll be ok.” But, with time, professional help, and support from friends and family, Homer made it through and has been forever changed. This album is a product of that period of his life.

For Steinweiss, creating the album was a refuge, and it put him back on track. Creatives across the world have an innate understanding of that. But the album is also a glimpse into the different energies that influences that make the man and the artist tick. And fittingly, the album is the beginning of a new, interesting chapter of Steinweiss’ life and career. 

Last month, I wrote about Ensantina‘s first single, “Deep Sea,” feat. Hether, a slow-burning and woozy love song set over a hypnotic back beat, a gorgeous, dreamy trumpet line and a strummed acoustic guitar line. The lush and meditative arrangement compliments Hether’s dreamily romantic delivery and lyrics, which includes a sweet nod to Steinwess now wife. The song seems to suggest that when we’re struggling in life’s deep sea, love — in all of its forms — can be the lifeline. 

The track between the two friends came together quickly, with Steinweiss remarking, “It’s my favorite song on the album. Hether, as a friend, saw me through my highs and lows, and this track captures the full energy of what was happening during the time we were recording.”

The album’s second single, album opening track “Rollin'” features the self-proclaimed “granddaughter of soul” KIRBY. The song is anchored around a lush and swaggering, Quiet Storm-like soundscape with skittering and plinking 808s, broodingly regal horns, bursts of strummed guitar. KIRBY’s ethereal delivery, which alternates between scatting and cooing lyrics, floats over the lush production.

Steinweiss fell in love with the melody scratch track, and, as he puts it, “the first take, that scratch take is always the one with the most feeling to it.” He ultimately decided to keep the first take for the album, loving the way it forces the listener to come up with their own interpretation of what exactly KIRBY is singing.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: RYAL Shares a Dance Floor Friendly Bop

JOVM mainstays RYAL is a New York-based synth pop duo that features:

  • Jacque Ryal, a producer, singer/songwriter, keyboardist and pop artist, who first emerged into the local scene as a member of pop outfit Strip Darling. When she first stepped out as a solo artist, she started out crafting Portishead-inspired trip-hop. 

  • Aaron Nevezie, an in-demand producer, engineer, mixer and songwriter, who has worked across a wide range of genres and styles, primarily out of Brooklyn-based Bunker Studio. Nevezie works with acts sculpting sounds and honing arrangements rooted in a passion for creative sonics informing musical performances. He has extensive work in composing and arranging electronic music with a focus on analog modular synths.

The JOVM mainstays have received attention from the likes of The Best Line of Best Fit, Time Out New York, LadyGunn, Popdust and elsewhere.

The duo’s latest single “On The Inside” is a hook-driven, early 80s-inspired disco synth pop tune that recalls Evelyn “Champagne” King‘s “I’m In Love,” Prince‘s “U Got the Look” and a few others. It’s the sort of song that should get you up to the dance floor or the rolling skating rink — unless you’re somehow soulless and dead.

The duo explain that the song is about how good vibes come from within, and that it’s ultimately up to you to have a good time. Let that be a reminder y’all.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Ezra Collective Shares Swaggering “Streets is Calling” feat. M.anifest and Moonchild Sanelly

Acclaimed London-based jazz/hip-hop outfit Ezra Collective — Femi Koleoso (drums), TJ Koleoso (bass), Joe Armon-Jones (keys), Ife Ogunjobi (trumpet) and James Mollison (tenor saxophone) — can trace their origins back to when they met at Gary Crosby’s Tomorrow’s Warriors, a jazz music education and artist development program committed to championing diversity, inclusion and equality across the arts through jazz with a special focus on Black musicians, female musicians and those whose financial or other circumstances might lock them out of opportunities to pursue a career in the music industry.

The band’s full-length debut, 2019’s You Can’t Stay My Joy, featured guest spots from Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner. Instrumental album track “Quest for Coin” was premiered as the “Hottest Record in The World” on BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac Show. 2022’s sophomore album Where I’m Meant To Be, which featured a mix of instrumental tracks and lyrical contributions was released to widespread critical applause across the UK.

Last year was a breakthrough year for the British jazz outfit. Their critically applauded sophomore album led to the band being named the first jazz act to ever win the Mercury Prize. The entire UK, European Union and US tour to support the album was sold-out, including 10,000 capacity Eventim Apollo and Royal Albert Hall headlining shows. They played Glastonbury Festival and Quincy Jones‘ star-studded birthday party and the final guests of the year on The Graham Norton Show and Top of The Pops Review of 2023. Adding to a busy year, they won Best Jazz Act at last year’s MOBO Awards and were named Time Out London‘s Londoners of 2023.

Continuing upon last year’s momentum, they were tapped by Daniel Lee to perform at this Burberry x Harrods takeover. They launched the British Library’s Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music exhibition. And they were profiled in ES Magazine, British Vogue, Music Week and Mixmag.

Ezra Collective’s highly-anticipated third album Dance, No One’s Watching is slated for a September 27, 2024 release through Partisan Records. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, where the band was surprised by group of close friends and family, the Dance, No One’s Watching sessions were turned into a live, communal celebration of love, music and dancing. Written throughout the course of last year as the band toured across the world, the album not only documents the dance floors they encountered in their travels. Musically and thematically, the album guides the listener through a night out in the city, from the endless possibilities as a night out is about to start, to when you’re getting back home, with the sun rising.

The album’s third and latest single “Street Is Calling” feat. M.anifest and Moonchild Sanelly is a swaggering and strutting tune that sees the acclaimed British act effortlessly bridging the African Diaspora with a synthesis of Highlife, Amapiano, Afrobeats and hip-hop that nods at Soul II Soul — but while being a high energy call out to get your ass up on that dance floor.

“‘Streets Is Calling’ is about the feeling when people call you up and message you and say, yo, there’s this party happening tonight and that’s all you need,” the band’s Femi Koleoso explains. “The Streets have called. We’re gonna go straight to this dance floor to make it our own.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Irrepressibles Share Slinky “Destination”

Jamie Irrepressible is a North Yorkshire-born, London-based singer/songwriter and producer. He’s also the creative mastermind behind The Irrepressibles. Throughout his career, the British singer/songwriter and producer has made sexuality — in particular, his sexuality — the centerpiece of his work.

2010’s full-length debut, Mirror Mirror featured “In This Shirt,” which was later included on the soundtrack for the short film., The Lady Is Dead. 2012’s “Two Men in Love” firmly cemented The Irrepressibles mastermind’s reputation for being fearlessly uncompromising in terms of song structure and thematic concern. In 2014, he sang the song at the first wedding between two men in the UK.

Over the course of the past decade, “In This Shirt,” “Two Men In Love,” as well as “The Most Beautiful Boy” were included on several films and TV shows internationally, including season two of Netflix’s Young Royals and Norwegian teen series SKAM.

Adding to a growing international profile, “In This Shirt” received remixes from Norwegian electronic outfit Röyksopp, Hercules & Love Affair and Zero 7. The British artist would subsequently contribute lead vocals to five tracks on Röyksopp’s 2014 album Inevitable End — “Something in My Heart,” “I Had This Thing,” “Here She Comes Again,” “Compulsion” and “You Know I Have To Go,” as well as backing vocals on “Monument,” feat. Robyn. He contributed vocals on two tracks of Dutch progressive dance duo’s 2022 album In Another Lifetime, “You Take My Hand” and “I Am Free.” He also contributed vocals on three tracks of Röyksopp’s Profound Mysteries trilogy.

As a solo artist, digital singles released between 2018-2020, “Submission,” “Dominance” and “Anxiety,” saw Irrepressible exploring a starker, darker and much more electronic direction, influenced by a relocation to Berlin, where he eventually wrote and recorded 2021’s Superheroes, “a concept album telling the story of a love affair that’s both set in Berlin and takes its musical cues from the city,” the British artist explains.

The British singer/songwriter and producer’s forthcoming The Irrepressible album, Yo Homo! is reportedly the most direct, most sexual album of his catalog to date — and a celebratory, uninhibited and steamy rush of lust, love, honesty and community. “I want to make a record specifically for the queer community, to create a safe space where people feel they are being expressed. To contribute something to that soundtrack of our lives, both in the music and the videos.”

Yo Homo! album single “Destination” is a slinky and sensual song anchored around a strutting guitar line, the London-based artist’s sultrily yearning cooing paired with a steady backbeat. The song ends with a Scott Walker-like orchestral coda, which adds a sexy and smart stylishness to the proceedings. Thematically, the song is about the longing for love in an era of hook-up culture and fast-paced intimacy. The song tells the story of a man living in isolation, going from one one-night stand to another, but desperately longing for deeper connection.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Riga’s Bēdu Brāļi Shares Forceful and Uneasy “Pieskaries”

Riga, Latvia-based alt rock outfit Bēdu Brāļi — Oskars Tu (vocals, guitar), Jānis Liepiņš (bass) and Pēteris Ozols (drums) — spent the formative years among the vibrant mid 00’s hardcore punk and rock scene in their homeland. The scene’s fiercely independent ethos and the use of Latvian language lyrics rubbed off on them; but sonically, they’ve managed to stand apart from their peers.

Their full-length debut 2022’s Duende saw the Riga-based outfit crafting a sound that featured elements of shoegaze, psych rock, post-punk and more. The Latvian trio’s sophomore album Lauskas will be released through I Love You Records. 

Deriving its title from the Latvian word for shards, the album reportedly sees the trio further cementing their boundary pushing sound. Earlier this year, I wrote about album single “Ikdienas-dzive,” a track anchored around glistening guitars, a chugging motorik groove and a woozy, shoegazer textured guitar solo paired with Tu’s punchily delivered vocal. While recalling Montréal‘s Atusko Chiba, “Ikdienas-dzive,” captures a nagging sense of vacillating self-doubt, bored and uneasy dread and frustration that should feel familiar to anyone who’s slaved away at a soul-sucking day job. 

“The main lyric is that my everyday life – this routine – is turning me evil. It’s me going mad because every day is the same,” Bēdu Brāļi’s Oskars Tu explains. “I can’t forget the previous day and start afresh. I just have this bitterness as work-related stuff lingers. I remember all the bullshit happening a day ago, a week ago, a month ago. I think I’m not alone in that happening.”

Duende‘s latest single “Pieskaries,” is a brooding, decidedly post punk affair featuring an angular and propulsive bass line, rolling drum pattern and bursts of slashing guitars serving as an uneasy bed for Oskars Tu’s desperate wails. While continuing a run of material that reminds me a bit of Atsuko Chiba, “Pieskaries” captures a modern sense of isolation and unease while being with others.

“It’s about loneliness,” Tu explains. “It’s one thing to have people around you who are true to their words and actions and you in turn can become a better person. But it’s another to be with people who lie and you end up lying to yourself. This ultimately leads to this feeling of isolation, even though technically you’re around people.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jeremy Weizman and Kachel Team Up on Euphoric and Crowd Pleasing “Loud Enough”

Emerging, French electronic music producer and DJ Jeremy Weizman started his career as a rapper, known as Weizmann. The French producer and DJ’s transition into techno has been seamless. His sound features elements of minimalist., industrial and dub techno, as well as tech house.

He’s also an entrepreneur and the CEO of several music platforms that operate across the US and France — Studiomap.fr., a marketplace for recording studios and Sound-Academy.co, a leading training organization for sound engineers, DJs and beat markers, Vibes-Studio.fr., a franchise of self-service music studios and Studiomap Records.

Weizman’s latest single “Loud Enough” featuring Kachel is a fun, house anthem anchored around punchy thump, skittering beats, twinkling synth oscillation and a chopped up, soulful vocal sample. Sonically nodding at Larry Levan house and Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa, “Loud Enough” is a lush, crowd-pleasing banger that reveals a producer, who can craft a euphoric hook.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JeezJesus Shares a Dance Floor Friendly Protest Song

Joe McIntosh is a Leamington Spa, UK-based musician, producer and creative mastermind behind the emerging electronic music project JeezJesus. While studying Music Technology at the University of Salford, Manchester, McIntosh played guitar and keys for a number of Manchester scene acts, including VALA and The Peace Pipers.

As a producer, McIntosh worked with The Peace Pipers, producing 2019’s debut EP, Patterns and 2020’s double single “Helicopter”/”The Towers.” The Leamington Spa-based artist went to record material with his first project GIMP that included the Reject EP and a few singles.

His latest project, JeezJesus sees McIntosh sonically heading towards a more post-punk-leaning direction. And his debut JeezJesus single “End of Days” possess an uncannily precise 1980s goth/industrial sound, complete with thumping 808s, slashing guitars, relentless four-on-the-floor drum machine, rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses paired with brooding baritone vocals.

Released during the UK general election earlier this year, “End of Days,” as McIntosh explains is an anti-war song informed by the current, larger global climate. “This is my first real attempt going towards a a more post-punk style as opposed to my previous more dark electronic direction, although the song retains elements of this.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Denver’s Anterra Shares Gorgeous “End of Time”

Anterra is a Denver-based indie folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She crafts songs of enchantment and grief, that thematically touch upon perspective, mysticism and self-mythology. Sonically, the Denver-based artist pairs heartbreakingly gorgeous, siren-like vocals with dreamy arrangements.

The Denver-based artist’s released her full-length debut, Things Take Time last month. The album’s latest single “End of Time” is a gorgeous tune featuring strummed acoustic guitar, twinkling harp, a soulful and bluesy guitar solo serving as a lush bed for Anterra’s expressive delivery. The result is a painterly, Mazzy Star-meets-shoegazer take on folk.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bohemian Cristal Instrument Shares Cinematic “New Nature”

Splitting her time between Los Angeles and the Czech Republic, the Czech-born singer/songwriter, producer and musician Lenka Moravkova is the creative mastermind behind the indie electro pop project My Name Is Ann and the solo experimental electro pop […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Two New Tracks from Aussie JOVM Mainstays RVG

Acclaimed and rising Aussie outfit and JOVM mainstays  RVG — currently Romy Vager (vocals, guitar), Gregor’s and Hearing’s Reuben Bloxham (guitar), Rayon Moon‘s Marc Nolte (drums), and Isabelle Wallace (bass) — have released three critically applauded albums:

  • 2017’s A Quality of Mercy, which was recorded live off the floor at Melbourne’s iconic rock ‘n’ roll pub, The Tote Hotel. Initially released to little fanfare, the album, much to their surprise received critical acclaim both nationally and internationally, landing on a number of end-of-year Best of Lists. 

  • 2020’s Victor Van Vugt-produced Feral was released by Fire Records globally, excluding Australia and New Zealand, where it was released by Our Golden Friend. The album received breathless praise nationally and internationally, with Rolling Stone Australia calling the album “the record of a lifetime.”

  • Last year’s  Brain Worms, which won the Soundmerch Australian Music Prize and the AIR Awards Independent Album of the Year.

Since the release of Brain Worms the band has been busy: they’ve made the rounds of the global festival circuit with stops at SXSW, The Great Escape, Golden Plains, Rising Festival, Dark Mofo and Splendour in the Grass. The album received applause from Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Uncut, NME, Clash Magazine, MOJO and The Fader. The album also airplay from KEXP, Apple Music 1 and countless other outlets across the globe.

Just before the Aussie JOVM mainstays are about to embark on a headlining UK and European Union tour, they shared a double A-side single “Don’t Take It Badly”/”Pet Sematary.” Recorded at Soundpark Studios with Andrew “Idge” Hehir and mixed by James Trevascus, “Don’t Take It Badly,” is a slow-burning bit of jangle pop anchored around the band’s uncanny knack for rousingly anthemic hooks paired with Vager’s heartbreakingly earnest delivery and lived-in lyrics. “Don’t Take It Badly is a song about how change isn’t always a romantic thing and can sometimes feel pretty ugly. It’s a winter song that I wrote in the summer,” Romy Vager explains.

The other A-side single is a jangling and breakneck, yet fairly straightforward cover of the Ramones’ “Pet Sematary.” “We all love the Ramones” Romy states “And started playing this in rehearsal and it instantly clicked. The lyrics are such an underrated part of Ramones’ songs, there’s a lot of imagery in this song that I love dearly.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Geneva Jacuzzi Shares Sultry and Swaggering “Laps of Luxury”

Geneva Jacuzzi is a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist, whose immersive and unhinged performances are considered legendary: they often involve a psychotropic gallery of masks, costumes, confrontation and massive art installations. Her recorded music frequently features catchy hooks and cryptic moods dusted in 4-track grit. 

Earlier this year, the bedroom darkwave stalwart., multimedia artist and performer signed to Dais Records, who will be releasing her third full-length album Triple Fire on Friday.

In the lead up to the album’s release, I wrote about the following tracks:

“Dry,” a brooding and swaying bit of 80s retro-futuristic synth pop anchored around layers of glistening analog synth arpeggios and skittering beats paired with catchy, razor sharp hooks. Jacuzzi’s seemingly detached vocal singing lyrics about disconnection and uncertainty ethereally float over the dreamy arrangement and production. 

“I took a little break from writing music and when I sat down at home to record, ‘Dry’ was the first song to burst out,” Jacuzzi recalls. “The music came together so instantly it’s as if it had been waiting and perfecting itself for years in the ether. The chorus lyrics came that same week after I went on a date with Mike Judge and he never called me back (haha). I wasn’t upset or anything, but I had never been ghosted before and couldn’t help but equate modern love to an appliance you buy on the home shopping network.”

“Scene Ballerina” Triple Fire‘s third single continued a run of remarkably period specific, 80s inspired synth pop, with the song featuring glistening and arpeggiated synths, tweeter and woofer rattling 808s and catchy hooks serving as a lush yet dance floor friendly bed for Jacuzzi’s expressive vocal. Sonically seeming to nod at a synthesis of Jane Child, I Feel For You-era Chaka Khan and Larry Levan house, “Scene Ballerina” describes a very specific, attention craving personality that many of us have come across at some point or another. 

“We all know that person: The Scene Ballerina. Stirring up a whirlpool of drama. Leaping to the center of the spotlight, spinning lies, twisting stories. All for attention,” Jacuzzi shares. “A tragic character. I can name a few ;)”

“Laps of Luxury,” is Triple Fire‘s fourth and final, pre-release single. And as the album opening track, it sets the template for the album’s sound and aesthetic while standing out on its own. Featuring skittering boom bap, glistening synth arpeggios and strutting synth bass paired with Jacuzzi’s sultry, siren-like cooing, “Laps of Luxury” is a strobe-lit, goth-leaning club banger that’s seemingly indebted to Pet Shop Boys, Yaz/Yazoo, New Order and early Depeche Mode.

“‘Laps of Luxury’ is one of my favorite tracks on Triple Fire,” Jacuzzi says. “We spent the most time perfecting it in the studio. I was listening to a lot of Pet Shop Boys at the time and wanted to capture the light/dark ghostly dreamscape of castles and discos from another time. The lyrics are quite haunting and vague. The character is escaping in a car late at night. Processing the experiences that flood her mind and recounting them to the driver. ‘I’ve seen so many things/no one should ever see’… What did she see?!?! Poor thing. Obviously something unspeakable. One could only imagine.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Ravdawg Returns with Euphoric Banger “The Way You Get”

Ravdawg is a mysterious and emerging Chicago based electronic music producer, DJ and JOVM mainstay, who generally specializes in tech house and bass. Over the past few months, the Chicago-based producer and DJ has released a handful of tracks, that include:

  • The Larry Levan-like “U Know U Know,” which I wrote about earlier this month. 

  • “Your Body,” a deep house banger, built around glistening synths oscillations, a fluttering flute, skittering hi-hats, tweeter and woofer rattling beats paired with a pitched-up, soulful vocal sample that manages to remind me a bit of Octo Octa and others.

  • “Believe in Me,” a euphoric and club friendly bit of house music built around skittering hi hats, glistening synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rattling thump, and a pitched and chopped up vocal sample.  

Ravdawg’s latest single “The Way You Get” is a euphoric club banger anchored around dusty skittering beats, twinkling synth arpeggios, a glistening guitar solo and a pitchy yet soulful vocal sample paired with the JOVM mainstay’s uncanny knack for a catchy, euphoric hook.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mister Sunshine Shares Meditative Rock Ballad on Aging

Ben Whetsell is a New York-based producer, singer/songwriter, musician and former lawyer, who has dabbled in music for over 30 years. In the wake of the pandemic, Whetsell decided to go all-in music, starting his solo recording project Mister Sunshine.

Whetsell’s latest single, “Day’s Half Gone” was written and recorded, on-and-off over the course of 10 months at Berklee NYC, where he completed his Masters studies. The song is a slow-burning and meditative anthem, anchored around twangy, country-meets-southern fried guitars and ukulele, big rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses and shifting meters paired with Whetsell’s dreamily plaintive delivery.

“Day’s Half Gone” describes Ben’s difficulties as a developing songwriter. “The parts about aging – feeling like I let music get away from me – are some of the first things I wrote in the program, but that’s a dead end: it isn’t a healthy headspace, and it definitely doesn’t make for a good song,” Ben said. ”Getting loud and getting over it is a lot more interesting.”